Mission Grammar for Nonprofit Arts Organizations: Flick the Prepositions and Cut the Nonsense
Your community requires “Why,” not “How” — and the slogans have got to go.
Let’s make this short and impactful. Well, impactful anyway.
Get the prepositions, whether they’re attached to a phrase or not, out of your mission statement. And the slogans, too. Not only are they unnecessary, but more than that, these words set up your nonprofit arts organization for failure.
These statements were chosen at random using the company’s websites or, when not listed on the website (why?), directly from their tax returns. There is no ulterior motive here except to make your organization work better.
Theater: “Steppenwolf Theatre Company strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment.”
Let me start by saying that I have a lot of respect for Steppenwolf. Several of their productions have stayed in my mind as artistic masterpieces. But also, two of them were presented in commercial environments, so there is little that ties their charitable mission to those experiences.
There’s a lot wrong with their mission statement. It was clearly not created with a goal in mind.
First of all, never “strive.” Think of the famous Yoda quote:
If your mission contains the idea of “striving” to do something, just do the thing instead.
Second, a mission is not a marketing statement. What’s written here is more of a slogan, catchphrase, or jingle. It can be used as a marketing statement, but its purpose is to reveal the charity’s end goal, not what it does or how it does it. This statement is not a mission statement, but rather an ornamental, gratuitous description of what they do and how they do it.
If you ran any other charity, you would look to eliminate a problem or make life measurably better in the ways society has defined them. I would ask Steppenwolf people to describe the ideal impact of their work on the communities of Chicago. What data would they need to track to find out how successful they are in that charitable mission?
Social service agency: “The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.”
The prepositional phrase, “in the face of emergencies” and the add-on clause “by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors” are wholly unnecessary. Not only that, it detracts from the powerful first few words. The rest is descriptive and could be inserted into a list of ways in which they measure success, but they are not a mission. But still, the Red Cross is clearly aware of the impact they seek (not just the impact they have). Imagine if the mission were simply:
“The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering.” In this case, less is more.
Symphony: “The Houston Symphony inspires and engages a large and diverse audience in Houston and beyond through exceptional musical performances, and creates enduring impact in our community.”
Even as a marketing tool, this mission statement is a word salad of floccinaucinihilipilification. It’s a paean to nothingness. Boiled down, without all the extraneous phraseology, their mission is meaningless, even with a nod to a never-defined “enduring impact in our community.”
Let me be clear: every charity should create impact in the community. Not that it goes without saying, but it should. And again, the company gives no reason why, other than patting themselves on the back for (subjectively) exceptional musical performances. It is far from a mission statement, and yet, sadly, you can see they put in a lot of work at some retreat toward creating this flowery twaddle.
Social justice agency: “The Southern Poverty Law Center is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people.”
The SPLC has a long mission statement. There are too many phrases, making it a menu for supporters’ interests but diluting the main idea. Truly, while I understand the need to include those phrases, one has to admit that the core is the first third of the sentence:
“The Southern Poverty Law Center is a catalyst for racial justice.”
The SPLC doesn’t have to explain why racial justice is important. That’s a universal good. The menu of priorities can easily be placed under a listing of activities to engage specific communities in the region.
Arts organizations do have to explain why the company exists, if for no other reason than the production of art is not a charitable activity. (Note: just because something makes no money doesn’t make it a charitable activity.)
The closer you get to achieving a truly charitable impact — and defining what that external impact is — the better your chances of unconditional support from non-toxic donors will be. They won’t go completely away (they’ve been around too long to just disappear overnight).
But if you’re trying to save the world, wouldn’t you prefer the rest of us know why it needs saving?
